Thursday, April 12, 2007

Thankful Thursday: REFLECT, REFRESH, RESTORE

I am thankful that we had a whole week "vacation" to commemorate the passion of Christ (what we call Holy Week here). It gave us a week to REFLECT, REFRESH and RESTORE our minds, hearts and spirits. Below is a glimpse of how the Lord allowed me to rest, reflect on my life and my service to Him, and to reconnect with people who are dear to me:

ALONE AT BELLEVUE - I checked myself into a hotel overnight so that I can spend time alone. It was an amazingly wonderful experience! Not because I wanted to be away from my hubby and kids, but because I felt I needed to "find" myself again. I gave birth last Sept 28, and just after a week of recovering from a C-section I went back to work! Shocking? Yes. Because when you own a business like mine, you can't be away from it too long otherwise nothing will get delivered as scheduled. And I've been working straight from that time on till now. The stress and lack of rest (due to work, taking care of the baby, taking care of Nicky and Allan) has taken its toll, and I was almost on the brink of a burnout. The time out I took was indeed what I needed. I spent my whole stay at the hotel scrap booking (finished Keira's baby scrap book, finally!), reading a book while dining in a dimly-lit fine dining resto, watching TV till late night alone in a King-sized bed, having lunch by the pool and reading some more. It was great! I should do this more often. It gave me a chance to gather strength that I lost from months of un-rest, and enjoy being with myself again. I came home a happier and more complete woman :-)

EASTER EGG HUNT - Bonding time with my son again! I brought Nicky to an Easter Egg Hunt at the AAV Country Club last Easter Sunday. It was extremely HOT that day (sweltering is the word!), but Nicky had fun, nonetheless.

Nicky at the entrance of the club

The hunt begins!

BLAST FROM THE PAST - I feel like I've lost touch with the outside world ever since I got pregnant and gave birth. My friend Don came home from the States for a visit, and it gave everyone the chance to meet up and reconnect with high school friends.